Mechanism fob



J. MORRISON, Jm MECHANISM FOR HANDLING BR|STLES'.-

APPLICATION FILED DEC- 3. 1918.

9. r m. %J 11... 1 Ln w w mud m E 7 d 0 6 fl m J m m P J 11 Clue 014mg THE collfilnnm PLANOG J. MORRISON, JR.

MECHANISM FOR HANDLING BRISTLES.

APPLICATION FILED DEC-3, I918.

9 m 0 Wk Mn 1 M Z Wm w}, m M w mm M m f a m P %y 4W0 abbozmei Wm M 50 I p'aratively -short bristles" in any quantity and UNITED STATES JOHN MORRISON, .13., or e ENs rALLs, new YORK,

MECHANISM' r03. HANDLING BRISTLES.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Oct. 21, 1919.

Application filed. December 3, 1918. Serial No. 265,176.

To all whom it may concern:

' Be it known that I, J OHN MORRISON, J r., a citizen of the United States, residing at Glens Falls, in the county of Warren and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Mechanisms for Handling Bristles, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

My invention relates to mechanisms for handling bristles of the kind generally used for the manufacture of brushes, my more particular purpose being to facilitate the assortment and Classification of loose bristles in order that they may be grouped into bundles or otherwise arranged symmetrically, and thus made ready for succeeding operations.

A good deal of the bristles used in this country are imported, and come in bunches varying in length from tWo to six or more inches.

The bunches are made up by hand, the loose bristles being assembled parallel to each other, and then combed and assorted with reference to their length, that is, the

bristles may be cut to doublethe length of the tuft as it actually appears thereafter in the finished brush, or it may be cut to the single length of the tuft. In other words,

the bristles may be bent like hairpins, or they may be arranged in straight single lengths. Since, however, long bristles are harder to-obtain and are more expensive tage to the manufacturer in using'bristles each having the same length as the tufts into which the bristles are to be formed. In practice, it is an easy matter to buy' comat any time, but this is not true of the longer bristles.

My invention :may also be used for arranging bristles in which both ends are alike, or at least in which the butt-end need not be distinguished from the feather end but in which the bristles are to be'disposed parallel to each other. V

In cutting bristles for the purpose of makingbrushes, it is customary to measure and cut from the butt ends. This is upontities of relatively short end portions, which,

in this art, are known as tops. These tops are composed of bristles too short to be cut and bent as above described, but of-suflicient length to be out andused in single lengthsthat is, the individual bristles, after cut-I ting, each being of the same length as the tufts.

My invention is of peculiar value in connection with the work of sorting and arranging the bristle tops above mentioned.

In practical brush making the bristles are usually cut by hand, and in such casethe workman who does the cutting has left in his hands,"at intervals, little clusters of the bristle tops. As these tops are left they'can readily be tied into bundles, but in order to tie these bundles much time must be consumed. Thus the workman can not do much work cutting bristles unless he can dispose of the tops without stopping to tie them.

As a result, some of the principal manufacturers of brushes simply cause the bristle tops to be thrown loosely into boxes or bags. These bristles tops are subsequently sold at a low price and used in the making of inferior brushes, in which the ragged or feathery ends of the bristles are left on. Such brushes are unsightly in appearance pose. 7

By the aid of my invention, however, the

, loose bristle tops can be arranged in order,

' and have but little real value for any purthan short ones, there is considerable a'dvanr Beginning with amass of loose "tops, or

with a confused mass of bristles of different lengths, and extending in all conceivable directions, my device brings order out of chaos and enables the bristles, or tops, or mixture of bristles and tops, as the case may be, to be arranged with the butt ends all extending one way, and with this result accomplished the material may readily be separated into bunches and tied by hand, or it maybe simply tied up in one immense bunch, as preferred.

Reference is made to the accompanying drawings, forming apart of thisspeciiication, and in which like letters indicate like parts throughout all of the figures.

Figure l is a plan View ofmy apparatus, COHlPlQtB HHCl assembled ready for use.

Fig. 2 is a; section on the line 22 of Fig. 1,- looking in the direction indicated by the arrows.

Fig. 3 is a plan view of one of the re movable needle bars forming a part of my device.

permost needle bars are: removed.

Fig. 6 is a perspective showing how the two lowermost needle bars are removed;

Fig. 7 isa perspective showing the device as it appears while the first of the two middle needle-bars are being removed.

Fig. 8 isa perspective of the device as it appears with only one of the middle needle bars left, and with a stop bar in position to prevent disarranging the bristles.

Fig; 9 is a fragmentary perspective of a.

spacing bar which may also, if desired,.be used as a stop bar; and

F ig.,1O is a side elevation of a bunch of bristles as duly assorted and tied.

A, board is shown at 11, and may be a slab of wood or merely the top of a flat table.- 7 i A number of bolts are shown at 12, and are detachably connected with the board, preferably extendingthrough it, after the mannerof dowel-pins. A number of other bolts appear at 13, and are provided with wing nuts 14. These bolts are also detachably connected with the board, preferably extending through it. Entirely separate from the board and the bolts,.and normally disconnected therefrom, are a number of needle bars 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20-, each having the form shown in Fig. 3, and being provided with a. number of needles 21 disposed parallel to each other that 1s, arranged in a row. Opposite the needle bars15, 16, 17, 18, 19-, 20, are spacing bars 22, 28, 24-, 25, '26:, 27, for receiving the ends of the needles; For this purpose the spacing bars are slightly 'iindentedas. may

be understood from Fig. 2. In order to fit the ends of the needles into the indentations of the spacing bars, a guide bar 28 rovided with notches 29, as shown more particularly in Fig. 9, may be employed. This guide bar is simply laid across the needles 21 so that the respective needles slide into the notches 29, and this spaces the needles equi-distant, so that their ends may enter the indentations of the spacing bars. A stop bar is shown at 30 in Fig. 8, and is used for preventing the disarrangement of the bristles when the last one of the spacing bars is withdrawn, as shown in Fig. 8, and as hereinafter described.

In order to arrange the mechanism to receive the bristles the parts are disposed as indicated in Figs. 1 and 2. The several needle bars are superposed one over the other and opposite each needle baris a spacing bar so that the several spacing bars are likewise superposed one above the other. As thus arranged, the needles of the spacing bars 15, 16, 17, are disposed crosswise of the needles of the spacing bars 18, 19, 20. Moreover, the needles of each spacing bar 15, 16, 17, are in immediate proximity to the needles of each spacing bar 18, 19, 20, so that the groups of needles carried by different spacing bars are paired relatively to each other. For instance, the needles of the spacing bar 15 are paired with the needles of the spacing bar 18, in the sense that the two groups of needles cross each other while V practically in contact.

Thus, as may be understood from Figs.

1 and 2, the various needles are so arranged as to constitute practically a plurality of screens located one. above the other, these lows The bristles, in the condition above described, are showered loosely and slowly upon the screens. Ifdesired, the board 11 and parts carried by it may meanwhile be jarred or agitated gently, each bristle being loose, and having, as above described, a comparatively heavy and solid butt end and also a light or feathery end. Each bristle tends by gravity to turn and drop with its heavier or butt end downwardly. This leaves all of the feathery ends pointing. upwardly. More bristles being added and the device shakenor jarredcontinuously, or as found desirable, the bristles are all 'worked'into the voids, and. tend to wedge therein, more or less tightly. The operator by means of his hand or of a beater of. somev kind, pounds upon the mass of bristles, now disposed with their light or feathery ends upward, and assuming the general form indicated in Fig. 4. The bristles being all beaten down evenly, the mass, as a whole, has more or less resemblance to a thick plush mat, as indicated in Fig. 4.

The operator next grasps the spacing bars and .draws them out, as shown more particularly in Figs. 5, 6 and 7. He first pulls out the spacing bars 15 and 18in other words, the two top spacing bars. Next he withdraws the two bottom spacing bars 17 and 20. This leaves the two middle spacing bars 16 and 19. The needles of these two spacing bars extend in two directions directly through the center of the mass of bristles, which is now supported upon its lower sidecorrespondingly to the bottom ends of the bristles, as may be understood from Fig. 7. Next the spacing bar 19 is withdrawn, as indicated in Fig. 7, and this leaves the parts in the condition indicated in Fig. 8. A stop bar 30 is now rested upon the needles of the spacing bar 16, as shown in Fig. 8. The operator holds the stop bar with one hand and with the other grasps the spacing bar 16 and withdraws its needles upon the mass of bristles. This leaves the bristles standing on end, and packed together, but otherwise unsupported.

The operator next ties a band or cord around the entire mass of bristles if he wishes to keep it together as a mass. If, however, he wishes to divide it into bunches he takes OH", with his hand, bunch after bunch of the bristles and ties them into bunches, one of which is shown at 32. He places a cord or band 33 around each bunch. He may, however, if he so desires, withdraw the last comb slowly, pressing the bristles from it directly into a boX, where they remain arranged.

The foregoing description applies more particularly to bristles which have been cut to comparatively short lengths. For bristles of greater length the spacing bars may be made thicker or larger, or more of them may be employed, as desired.

I do not limit myself to the precise con struction shown, as variations therefrom may be made without departing from the spirit of my invention.

I claim 1. A device of the character described, comprising a needle bar provided with needles extending therefrom, and a spacing b-ar detachably engaging the ends of said needles.

2. device of the character described, comprising a plurality of needle bars each provided with a row of needles, said needle bars being so disposed that the needles of one bar cross the needles of another bar, and a spacing bar detachably engaging the ends of the needles of ,each row.

3. A device of the character described comprising a plurality of screens detachably connected together and disposed substantially parallel to each other, each screen being made in two parts detachably mated together, so that one of said parts may be withdrawn while its mating part is left in the frame, in order to facilitate the disengagement of the screens from stock material extending therethrough.

4. A device of the character described, comprising a plurality of needle bars each provided with needles extending laterally from it and disposed in a row, a plurality of other needle bars each provided with needles extending laterally from it and dis posed in a row, said second mentioned needle bars being fitted to engage said first mentioned needle bars in such position that the needles of said second mentioned needle bars cross the needles of said second mentioned" needle bars, the various needle bars being I JOHN MORRISON, JR.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. 0. 

